Match
by Pyromaniacle Insomniac
Summary: What happened just before Mello left Wammy House, and how it inevitably changed Near's and an old friends lives. Mostly a completly onesided love triangle. Warning: Might be OOC, has an OC, Some spoilers. Rated T for language.


Started at 1:13 am Saturday morning  
February 17th, 2007  
Finished at 3:59 pm Wednesday afternoon  
February 28th, 2007

Summary: Takes place before Mello leaves Wammy House, but after he and Near learn of L's death. Basically a kind of love triangle, but all of it's one sided.  
Mostly one sided OCxMello  
But also a little bit of one sided MelloxNear  
And one sided NearxOC  
Though maybe not one sided near the end  
It's a rather complicated thing really

I tried my best to keep Near and Mello in character while still showing sides of them that no one ever sees, I know I did a rather crappy job, but this is my first Death Note fic, and my first fic on this site, so please, bear with me.

I don't know enough about Matt to have included him very much in this fic, and really, all I'm basing this off of is the fact that I heard Mello (and Matt) die as the series progresses.

Disclaimer: The only thing I really own in this fic is Match. Mello, Near, L, and everything else belong to the creator of Death Note. God I wish I owned Mello and Near though.

_**Match**_

"So... Your really going to leave, aren't you..." Mello, surprised at the familiar voice, turned towards the doorway of his bedroom. A young girl of about fourteen years of age stood in the doorway of his bedroom. She had long, straight brown hair that stopped around the middle of her back, and she wore mostly black, currently wearing a set of jeans and a spaghetti strap top with a fishnet top over it, though like almost everyone else in the Wammy House, she was barefoot. Her eyes where an even darker shade of brown then her hair, nearly black if the light wasn't shining on them, though they couldn't currently be seen due to the many strands of hair obscuring their sight. The blond haired youth stared at the girl for a few moments, staying silent, before he turned back to his bag. He zipped it up and slung it over his shoulder, standing up from his kneeling position besides his bed. "And what if I am?" He asked, looking back over at the girl. "I was just... Wondering..." The brunette reached a hand up and pushed her hair back behind her ear, which had about three piercings in it, and finally looked up at the boy. "This way if you leave I might be able to get your room. You've seen how small mine is, I need more space to put up my posters." The boy let a small smile tug at the corners of his lips before he covered it up with a smug kind of smirk, which he had perfected with much practice. "Well, you won't miss me at all, now will you Match?" "Feh... Of course not. You know me well enough to know that I never miss anyone. You'll just be another person that left, just like everyone else." They both knew she was lying. It took a very keen eye to tell when the girl, apparently known as Match, was lying. Only two people in the Wammy House could really tell for sure when the girl was or wasn't lying; one being Near and the other being Mello himself. Slowly the boy walked over to her, a somewhat blank look on his face, which oddly enough seemed more like something another boy named Near would do, not Mello himself. "You'll need to burn all your pictures of me. Don't leave a single trace of my existence here. Understood?" As though animatronicly, without even thinking the girl gave a slight nod and said. "No problem. You planning on dropping off the face of the earth, eh Mello?" Letting out a cold kind of laugh, trying his best to remain stoic and cold to what was happening, the boy looked at the girl with his usual smug smile plastered all over his face. "Pretty much." "I guess this is goodbye then." The girl stated as though this where an everyday occurrence to her, like it happened all the time. "I won't be seeing you anymore." "No, you won't." The blond haired boy said, shifting his weight so that his long bangs covered his eyes. "I see..." Match said softly, her eyes turning to the ground as she trailed off. Neither one of them broke the silence after that, neither one knowing what to say to the other. After what seemed like an eternity, though in reality it had only been a few seconds, Mello stepped forward and cupped the girls chin in his palm. He tilted her head up so that she would be looking him in the eye, and placed a gentle kiss on the girl's forehead, his final goodbye. "I'll see you in Hell, Match."  
He walked past her through the doorway of the bedroom.  
The girl stayed completely immobile as he walked down the hall way.  
Out of the house.  
Down the sidewalk.  
And away from Wammy House.  
Forever.

She stood there for a long time after Mello left, knowing all to well that the only reason he'd done that was to grant her wish. To make her believe that he liked her. Even though she'd shown no signs of ever liking him, or at least, not to her knowledge, he must have found out at some point or another. He knew they'd never see each other again, just as she did, so he made her happy while he could. _"He didn't even like me in that way,"_ she thought, almost sadly. _"He loved Near, though he'd never admit it... He wouldn't even admit it to himself."_

Maybe Mello had foreseen what would occur over the next several years. Maybe he had seen what would happen to Near, to himself... To her, if she had stayed in contact with him. In the end, he didn't feel that way about her. But he protected her to the very end, and in his own way, protected Near at the same time. Because really, no matter how Mello acted over the next several years or what he said, he knew that he would never best Near, and that if he had stayed in contact with either of them, he would've taken them both to their graves.

Match never did move into that bedroom.  
Infact, she never came near that room again.

Watching from around the corner stood another boy, dressed in white pajamas, twirling a lock of his silvery hair between his fingers as he so often did. _"He really knows how to make an exit, doesn't he…"_ The boy thought. Even though his thoughts remained as calm and stoic as he himself always did, anger seethed just bellow the surface of his psyche, even if he himself wasn't aware of it. The boy's eyes widened, though it was only a fraction on an inch, as much emotion as he'd let cross his face, as he silently watched his friend, who was still unaware of his presence. The brunette was simply staring at the ground, not doing anything. She didn't cry, she didn't speak, she didn't even move. It was a recurring thing in the Wammy House, to see someone crying over a lost loved one, because everyone in the house where orphans, whose soul purpose was to succeed L. Really, everyone was just so sick of losing someone they cared for. But, every so often, there would be a few children inside the house that refused to cry, no matter what happened to them. Usually though, they where the ones that needed to cry the most. Silently, the boy moved from his hiding place, walking over to the girl. He stopped when he was standing next to her, their hips only inches apart. "Match would like to stay in my room tonight." He stated, his voice in it's usual monotone state. That was how Near was, though. No one could really tell when he was asking questions or not, because his voice was always so even and toneless, everything sounded like a statement. After a moment of silence though, the girl nodded in reply, looking up at her curly-haired friend. She forced a small smile onto her face like she so often did, her dark eyes somewhat blank; probably from Mello's leaving still sinking in, he guessed. "Thanks, Near… I'd like that…" Simultaneously the two walked off towards Near's room in silence. Near had his room to himself, unlike the other children in Wammy House, because no one wanted to be stuck with the genius that made everyone feel inferior compared to himself. He still had two beds in his room, though, no one really knew why. As the two walked down the hallway, Near reached his arm out and gingerly took Match's hand in his own, giving it a light squeeze. Near wasn't very fond of human contact, and sometimes if people touched him to much he couldn't stop shaking for hours afterwards, but somehow, he knew that right now she needed to be sure that something was still real, and that he wasn't going to disappear like everyone else. Because deep down, everyone needed to know that they weren't alone.

It really was amazing though, how much a single person's death had inexplicably altered the course of the three teens' lives permanently.

Years went by and Match managed to keep in contact with Near, getting a letter from him at least once a month, sometimes twice a week if she was really lucky. She remained in the Wammy House, and eventually began working there part time, helping out the children that continued to come and go. Near and Mello had been her only real friends, so she was grateful that at least one of them still wanted to be bothered with her. She still dressed in mostly black and had the same hair and eyes as before, though her facial features, voice, and her body had matured with age as it did for everyone. Standing on the roof of the Wammy House, the girl moved her cigarette from her lips to let out a sigh, a cloud of smoke unfurling from her black-painted lips towards the sky. How she wasn't chewed out every single day by Roger for how she dressed was a mystery not even L could have figured out.

Everyone in the Wammy House seemed to have their own strange little habit or tendency, and of course, no one used their real names. Match's name was an odd one, not referring to two things in a pair, but the things that she lit up her cigarettes with. Though her name probably wasn't as strange as Near's or Mello's. And as for her odd habit? Well, in her youth it had been lollipops. She almost always had one in her mouth and she never bit it, just sucked on it until it melted away into nothing. She rarely ate anything else but lollipops, if you could really consider that eating, and at some point even L had grown concerned for her health. Even though L only ate sugary sweets, he ate enough to keep himself somewhat healthy, but Match barely even had three lollipops a day. Certainly not enough to keep someone that was still growing fit and active. As the years had gone by, however, her lollipop obsession had evolved into a smoking addiction. She knew full well that it would cause problems in the future, because even though she worked in the Wammy House and did still live there, she was currently paying her way through college, and you couldn't really smoke in class. She let out another soft sigh, moving the cigarette back to her lips as she inhaled the nicotine enriched smoke.

"Damn it Near..." The girl murmured, letting her cigarette fall to the ground after taking one last drag. She swiftly crushed it beneath her boot, a scowl placed firmly on her face. "I can't even enjoy a smoke anymore because of you." Despite the scowl that was on her face, and even though she'd just lie about it like she always did, she really was worried about her only friend. It had been nearly four months since she'd received a letter from her silvery haired friend, and that was highly unusual, even for him. She brushed a few stray strands of her dark hair from her face, looking towards the star filled sky. It was around four AM, and no one ever stayed up as late as she did, so no one was around to yell at her for smoking. Reaching a hand into her pocket she pulled out a folded piece of paper and carefully opened it, reading it for what seemed like the hundredth time since she'd received it four months ago.

_Match,_

_Mello is back and we're still competing in the Kira case. It took me awhile to get this information to you, and I am sorry for that, he's actually been back for a few months now. He's in the mafia apparently, and he's killed the Japanese Police Chief,Soichiro Yagami. He's gotten into a lot of trouble over the years, and he's probably done a lot of bad things, but he's alive, Match._

_He's alive._

_Near_

"Dear god, I hate you so much right now Near..." Match breathed out as she folded the paper back up, placing it back into her pocket so she'd be sure not to lose it. "You've actually _seen_ him... We both always knew that you'd be the one to see him again, but still…. Can't help but be kind of jealous of you…." She fumbled around in her other pocket, a sudden craving for nicotine attacking her like the addiction that is was, and produced a match and a box of cigarettes. Pulling the last cigarette out of the box she expertly struck the match on the rooftop, watching the flames consume it as she lit her cigarette. Blowing out the match she let it fall carelessly to the ground, taking a long, satisfying drag from her cigarette. A sudden ringing sound from the other side of the roof nearly made her jump out of her skin, and she began choking on the smoke in her lungs. Once she remembered that her cell phone was in the jacket she'd left over there earlier, however, she simply felt like smashing the damned invention. Once she'd finished coughing the smoke out of her lungs, she angrily stomped out the cigarette, which had fallen to the ground during her coughing fit. Rushing over to her jacket she fished her cell phone out of one of the pockets and flipped it open, not bothering to check the caller ID. "This had better be fucking good, Sarah, you made me waste my last cigarette." She growled angrily into the receiver. Since only a few people actually knew her cell phone's number, it had become somewhat easy to predict who would be calling at this time of the night. Though this time, she was wrong. "Your lollipop addiction has turned to smoking." The voice on the other line said in an unusually familiar monotone voice, stating the sentence as though he already knew rather then asking. The dark eyed girl completely froze as a look of complete and utter shock spread across her face. "...Near?"

"It's been awhile, hasn't it Match." Near stated in that calm, even tone of his. After a few moments, once it finally registered in her mind what was happening and who was on the other line, she swiftly shook her head before muttering. "Y-yeah, if you wanna call it that... Your voice hasn't changed much, has it... St-still as monotone as ever." She said softly trying not to stutter. She had this tendency of stuttering when she was either surprised or nervous, but right now, it was somewhat of a combination between the both, and she hated that. "Yes, I suppose it is..." Came the reply from the other end. "Yours has changed a bit though, it sounds a bit more..." The boy paused, trying to think of a proper word to use without insulting her. "...Feminine." At this, Match couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Well of course it has! You didn't think I'd have that boyish voice forever, did you?" "No, I didn't." Near said quietly, a small smile appearing on his face, though he covered it up as best he could. "So..." Match said suddenly, biting her lip lightly. "What happened, Near? You've never called me before, I didn't even know you had my cell number..." "I know of several good hackers, they can find out almost anything. It was rather easy to find your number." "Your avoiding the question, Near." There was a hint of amusement in the girls voice as she easily recognized the familiar aversion tactic that she herself so often used. Near let a soft sigh escape his lips, thinking back to that day when Mello had left. She'd seemed so broken back then... He never wanted to see her like that again. But this was her last chance, so he had to tell her... No matter what the consequence. "Mello is dead, Match."

Calm. Peaceful. Handsome. Those where some of the things that the people attending the funeral had said as they passed the casket to pay their final respects to the former mafia head. He was still dressed in his leather, as Near had been put in charge of organizing the funeral and the leather seemed to suit Mello better then the suits men where normally buried in. Though, he didn't have his rosary on. Normally he'd have never taken it off, but it wasn't there. However those weren't the words Near would have used to describe him, if he'd said anything. Cold. Lifeless. Not Mello. Those there the right words to use in such a situation as this. There weren't very many people there really, just the few that had come to pay their respects. If Matt had been alive, he'd have been there, probably playing one of his videogames. Sadly though, Matt had also died. Mello had been alive to attend his funeral, and Near had even called off his SPK (Special Provisions for Kira) for the event. Near still wore his white pajama's, seeing no point in changing his attire for such an occasion. He just sat there, playing with one of his toy jets, the sounds of a jet occasionally escaping his lips. A woman walked into the room, seeming rather out of place in the listless funeral home, and immediately walking over to the casket. She was dressed in a pair of somewhat tight, black jeans, that became rather baggy at the bottom, and almost seemed to be to long for her. A white Chinese-style dragon twined up each one of the legs of the jeans, stopping at her hips, mouths open in a furious. Knee-high leather boots where beneath the jeans, also black. Her shirt was, just as the rest of her attire, black, and form fitting. It was a plain spaghetti strap top, no decorations of any kind on it. Her hair was long, stopping at her mid back, and rather plain, a dark brown color. She had about three or four piercings in each ear, one in her nose, and one in her lip, all self-done. Surprisingly enough, no tattoo's marred her flesh, though that would almost inevitably change over the years. Her chest, surprisingly, wasn't very large at all, in fact it was somewhat flat. "Cold... Lifeless..." The woman said quietly, a somewhat sad tone to her voice. "...Not Mello." Near, finally setting his toy jet down, looked up at the woman, a blank look on his face, though his eyes betrayed him for once in his life. They showed happiness, but at the same time, sadness, due to the dreadful event that had recently occurred. "Hello, Match."

The woman turned around to face her friend, forcing a smile onto her face like she always had. "Hello, Near..." The boy--No, the man stood from his chair and walked over to his friend, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Whenever they'd sent each other mail over the years or when they'd talked over the phone (though that in itself was a very rare event), they'd still envisioned each other as the young teenagers they'd been when they'd seen each other last. But now they where practically adults, fully grown and more mature then they had been. "It's been a long time... Since the three of us where together..." She murmured softly, looking over at Mello's still body. "Yes, it has." Near said, also looking at their blond haired friend. Suddenly, he began rummaging around in his pockets, earning a curious look from the woman standing opposite him. Eventually he produced a rosary, the one that Mello normally wore, and held it out in the palm of his hand for the girl to take. "I found a sort of will that he'd had in his pocket. It said that he wanted you to have this." He let a small, kind of warm smile appear on his pale face as he gently grabbed her wrist and placed the crucifix in her hand. "He didn't forget you." Match stared at the crucifix in her hand for a few moments before lightly clenching her fist, a small smile appearing on her face. "Thank you... Near..." She gently pulled her wrist away from him and placed the rosary around her own neck, letting out a soft kind of chuckle. L had been an atheist, just as Near was now, meaning that they did not truly believe in any kind of god or heavenly being, and Mello had been agnostic, meaning he did believe in some sort of heavenly being, he just wasn't sure which of the religions to choose from. Before he'd come to Wammy House though, rumors had spread saying that he'd been raised a Catholic, though there was no real evidence of this and never would be. Match herself wasn't quite sure what she was, though she had read several books on many of the more popular religions, that of which included Christianity, Catholicism, and even a bit of Wiccan. She chose to be agnostic though, so as not to have to choose a solid religion, and really, it suited her lifestyle better anyway. "We should probably head to the graveyard now, Match, before it gets very late..." Near murmured quietly, motioning for the men to come and get the casket. The woman's eyes widened slightly, and she made it to the casket before the men could. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on the forehead of Mello's lifeless corpse, her final goodbye. "I'll see you in Hell, Mello."

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she stepped away from the casket. The men came over and almost as though in slow motion, she watched as they closed the casket, and Mello slipped away from her for the second time in her life. Her shoulders shook lightly as more tears followed the first one, though she tried with all her might to stop them they just kept coming. Near walked over to her and in an almost shy way, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, holding her close to him. Surprised at first Match looked up at him, a questioning look on her face. Near looked down at her and said in his usual monotone voice. "Match needs to know she isn't alone... I'll never leave you alone." She rummaged around in her pocket and pulled out an old, folded photograph. She carefully unfolded it and looked at the picture, a sad mile appearing on her face. "I-i lied to him, you know... I-i told him I'd burn all the pictures I had with him in them, but... I couldn't burn this one..." On it where three young children, maybe around ten years old. The boy on the right had short, silvery hair, with a bit of a curl to it. He was dressed in white pajama's, and had a blank look on his face, though his cheeks where slightly flushed and a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. The boy on the left had chin length golden hair, was dressed in mostly black, and had a scowl firmly planted on his face. But you could tell from the way that he looked that he was infact, enjoying himself. And right in between the two of them, was a young girl, a bit younger looking then the two boys in the photograph. She had straight, brown hair, and was also dressed in mostly black. She, unlike her two friends, was grinning widely, an arm wrapped around each of her friends as though she had had to pull them over to the camera. Near looked down at the photo, a somewhat surprised look on his face. "You still have that..." "Y-yeah... I couldn't bring myself to burn it, no matter how hard I tried..." She lightly leaned her head on Near's shoulder, letting out a soft sigh as tears still rolled down her cheeks. She carefully tucked the photo back into her pocket, as though it was some sort of treasured possession to her. Though, in all honesty, it probably was. "Come on... There's a limo waiting outside for us..." The two walked out of the funeral home in silence, one of them still crying quietly, the other with his arm still wrapped around the first.

It really was amazing though, how much a single person's death had inexplicably altered the two adults lives permanently.


End file.
